The second in our Kekun Residencies saw Aberdeen based Jetpack Dinosaur decant his home studio into Kekun for a week long stint which would eventually culminate in a new exhibitions 'Ancients & Islands'. Anyone who knows Jetpack aka Chris Bisset knows that he's incredibly hard working and dedicated to his creative journey and his proposal really ticked all the boxes.
Chris spent the week working on range of new pieces including a large triptych that aimed to marry his Japanese influenced style with the locality of Aberdeen with the 3 panels depicting Fittie or Footdee for the non Aberdonians. Chris also spent time working up some new smaller pieces along with finishing the 3 large 'Ancients' pieces which would give the show its title. With a limited colour palette the white space really made the reds pop and showed that Chris work can work on a larger scale. But it wasn't just about showing the finished article with sketchbooks, preliminary drawings and even a copy of Magenta Skateboards 'Soleil Levant' playing on repeat, providing the original inspiration for the red dots which feature throughout Chris body of work. The inclusion of his bonsai tree felt like a nice touch too.
Along with working on the show Chris also welcomed workshop participants to a special free lino cutting workshop. All of the workshops sold out in record time and despite being free, hinted at a real thirst for creative workshops, an area we'll be expanding upon soon. Under the tutelage of Jetpack, his students learned the basic of lino printing, from the materials required, the subtle art of the carving tools and the final printing process. The simplest of designs resulted in quite amazing images, much to the surprise of their creators and Chris who got to see first hand the power of mentoring a group and passing on his own knowledge and skills.
The Kekun Residencies came about as the result of a successful funding application to the council, originally for 4 residencies but we only received half of our goal. But that didn't deter us and we managed to stretch the budget for 3 residencies. The residencies aimed to provide artists with space and financial ability to develop and complete a new piece of work, something that can often be a challenge when self financing a project or if your working full time to pay the rent. I think the struggle is quite real for a lot of creative's and we hoped that on top of supporting some fantastic artists we'd also maybe provide a life line to a few who might need a hand to take their work to the next level. Jetpack definitely upped the stakes as far as what Kekun can do as a space but also proved that his work is as good as anything you'll find in the galleries of Aberdeen with added red dots on most pieces (almost a sell out show). Nae bad for a self taught artist!
Huge thank you to Mary for doing the funding applications, to everyone who supported the project and especially to Chris for his belief not only in himself but in me and Mary and our Kekun space. More coming soon and keep an eye on Jetpack here!
Indeed as I often find, when you scratch the surface of an artists work you'll find there's a whole world to be explored, a journey through not just the images but the over aesthetics that mean you can spot Chris work straight away, in amongst the constant stream of images on instagram. As an artist myself it was quite refreshing to see how Chris approached it all and just how dedicated he is to seeing his ideas come to fruition. And those fruits proved popular with most of the pieces selling on the opening night!
Along with working on the show Chris also welcomed workshop participants to a special free lino cutting workshop. All of the workshops sold out in record time and despite being free, hinted at a real thirst for creative workshops, an area we'll be expanding upon soon. Under the tutelage of Jetpack, his students learned the basic of lino printing, from the materials required, the subtle art of the carving tools and the final printing process. The simplest of designs resulted in quite amazing images, much to the surprise of their creators and Chris who got to see first hand the power of mentoring a group and passing on his own knowledge and skills.
Huge thank you to Mary for doing the funding applications, to everyone who supported the project and especially to Chris for his belief not only in himself but in me and Mary and our Kekun space. More coming soon and keep an eye on Jetpack here!
